© Preflex
- Wienerberger as the new European number one for electro pipes
- Selected acquisitions and investments in the future as main drivers for growth
- “Preflex-Spider”- Wienerberger’s first prefabricated electro solution successfully launched
Vienna – Value-creating acquisitions in recent years and product innovations made Wienerberger to Europe’s number one in the market for electro pipes. Three years after the acquisition of the Belgian Preflex Group in 2017 and electro accessories producer Reddy in 2019 Wienerberger thereby took a further successful step forward on becoming the leading provider for smart pipe solutions.
Investments into the future
Over the last three years, Wienerberger has automated and expanded the production capacity by more than 50% for prewired pipes. In doing so, Wienerberger has secured the condition to benefit from the increased market needs in Western and Northern European markets, while at the same time moved closer to the customers.
If you want to go big, you have to think big. We had observed the growing trend for pre-wired solutions in the Nordics and witnessed the Netherlands’ reaction to the – at the time – still new solution. We knew that by combining our offerings we would be able to tap into new markets and immediately started preparing for an increase in demand and geared up for growth.
Acquisitions already bearing fruit
The recent acquisitions have been a clear step in the execution of Wienerberger’s strategy to expand the value within the house and further increase the profitability with higher margin solutions. Now, even closer to the customers and with a completed portfolio on hand, Wienerberger is taking the next step for organic growth in the business unit Wienerberger Piping Solutions. The company has not only become a one-stop-shop supplier but has jumped into the driver’s seat of a newly established segment for prefabricated electro solutions.
Global novelty Preflex Spider
Lateral cooperation across the highly specialized production centers has resulted in the groundbreaking development of a market novelty, a prefabricated solution called Preflex Spider. It provides a complete pre-wired system that has already been cut and assembled to the client’s digital electro plan. The advantages for installers are obvious: more time and cost savings (up to 80% faster installation), elimination of potential installation errors (fully digital and automatized assembly system) and increase in safety (rigid testing at the production site). With this unique solution Wienerberger is creating more value for its customers and at the same time tackling the challenges of lack of skilled labour.
Strong development in 2020 and positive outlook
With a comprehensive portfolio, combined expertise and investments into innovation, efficiency and capacity expansion, the business unit Wienerberger Piping Solutions has significantly increased its success in sales throughout the course of 2020 despite the difficult environment with Covid-19. Since the recent launch of Preflex Spider, already hundreds of these prefabricated solutions have been installed in large construction projects. The demand from installers and housebuilders is consistently growing.
We are looking into a very bright future in our electro segment. With an increase in prefabricated housing, terraced houses and apartment buildings, the market potential for Preflex Spider is massive. We will use our economies of scale to roll out this new solution to further markets of the Wienerberger Group and increase our higher-margin inhouse solutions offering.
Watch our video of a standard Preflex installation:
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